Where the food and entertainment will have you coming back for more

Tucked away in the pocket of northwest Louisiana that borders Texas, Shreveport and neighboring Bossier City are rich with Cajun character and Texan influences. This is a place to have fun, where riverboat casinos and entertainment offer exciting nightlife, top-notch cuisine and a lively gaming scene. Flavor is a way of life here: The beloved restaurants dishing up Cajun-style seafood, po-boys and gumbo prove it. Hear live jazz at the Noble Savage Tavern. Watch a Broadway show at the Strand Theatre. Spend a leisurely weekend unwinding at a charming bed and breakfast, soaking up the food, fun and music at a festival, or get some thrills at horse races. Shreveport-Bossier’s feisty yet laid-back attitude will keep you coming back for more.

Art and Nature

Cross the Red River to downtown Shreveport, where Artspace awaits. This multigenerational creative space is more than a gallery or museum; it’s a center that includes exhibits, poetry readings and live music as well as work by local artisans. Continue your cultural tour of Shreveport at the R.W. Norton Art Gallery, where four centuries of European and American art round out the collection. At The Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College, you’ll find works from across cultures and a dynamic exhibit schedule that includes lectures and other events. If you prefer to check out nature’s beauty, head to The Gardens of the American Rose Center. With 65 individual rose gardens, it is the USA’s largest park dedicated to the iconic bud. Explore nature’s wild side at Gators and Friends Alligator Park and Exotic Zoo, where you can zip line over a swamp full of gators, or even hold or feed one if you’re feeling bold.

Culture and History

The Louisiana State Exhibit Museum features Caddo Indian artifacts and dioramas that immerse visitors in the story of the area’s oldest inhabitants. Large groups can experience the Louisiana Archaeological Treasure Tour to see the rarest gems in the holdings. Get a rich sense of the African and African-American experience on the Southern University of Art’s Art & Soul of Shreveport Tour. You’ll see art and artifacts and even have the chance to participate in an African drum circle.

Music and Family Fun

The area’s musical legacy is a thriving part of its culture. Head to the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium, where you can go on a backstage music tour of the community’s most important performing arts venue, which hosted legendary artists on its stage. For a major dose of fun, gather the family and get to Sci-Port Discovery Center. This enormous center has Louisiana’s only IMAX Dome Theater as well as Sawyer Space Dome Planetarium and the Power of Play Children’s Museum. In Bossier City, rock climb, go-cart and bumper car to your heart’s delight at Party Central Family Fun Center. Slow it down at the Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets, where you can score some great deals on beloved brands and the children can entertain themselves at the arcade.

Fun Fact

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Chimp Haven, the National Chimpanzee Sanctuary, is located just 48 kilometers south of Shreveport in Keithville, Louisiana.

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Elvis Presley launched his career as a performer onstage at Shreveport Municipal Auditorium on Oct. 16, 1954, when the 19-year-old singer first appeared onstage at the Louisiana Hayride.

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An estimated 36,000-46,000 kilograms of boiled crawfish are eaten each year at the Mudbug Madness Festival, a four-day festival held in downtown Shreveport each Memorial Day Weekend.